The meeting had been scheduled last month, before the federal government found Tuesday that Massachusetts would not need to open shelters for unaccompanied immigrant children.

But two days after the federal government made that decision, the Bourne Democratic Town Committee met as planned on Thursday, still feeling the need to respond to the town selectmen's unanimous vote July 22 to send a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick opposing his offer of Joint Base Cape Cod as a potential shelter site.

“The immediate impetus has passed, but the Bourne Democrats are still concerned because – we don't know – there may be a need in the future,” said town committee Chairman Bill Grant. “It's still possible we'll be called on. And if it does happen again, we don't want to be caught flat-footed, without a response.”

Bourne Democrats had envisioned the meeting as a “brainstorming session,” a time to strategize in support of Patrick's proposal to house the immigrant children at the Cape base, along with Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee. In the 5-0 vote, Bourne selectmen cited a potential strain on town finances and emergency services, even as Kurt Schwartz, undersecretary for Homeland Security in the Patrick administration, sought to assure them that the federal government would bear all the costs.

“Our decision was based on business, not on the rhetoric of those people at the podium,” said Peter Meier, chairman of the Bourne Board of Selectmen, in a phone interview Thursday night.

On the Democratic town committee's agenda Thursday was a vote to condemn the selectmen's letter, a discussion on what the committee could do to “counter the negative image of Bourne and Cape Cod in general” created by the board, and a talk on encouraging residents to run for selectman.

The crowd of about 25 – including several newcomers to the Democratic town committee and at least one Sandwich resident – voted unanimously in a voice vote to condemn the letter, which was described as “appalling” and “embarrassing.”

“I think that it is something that we can condemn, because the board of selectmen didn't speak for me as a resident of Bourne,” said a Bourne attorney who asked not to be named because “all of my clients are Republicans.

The woman said friends across the country saw the news coverage on the selectmen's vote, and in email conversations, she found herself in the position of defending her town.

“It was extremely, extremely distressing to me … that I would have to defend my town, because I love my town,” she said. “But, at the same time, I completely condemn everything they said because it was mean-spirited.”

Meier, a former chairman of the Bourne Democratic Town Committee, said his position – like those of his four fellow selectmen – has not wavered. While he conceded some comments from the public were “out of character” on July 22, Meier reiterated that the board voted 5-0 in the spirit of “fiduciary responsibility.”

“We're not racist by any means … We're probably the most compassionate board out there,” he said.

On the committee's upcoming letter to the board, Meier said: “That's their right. That's their opinion. … That is the opinion of that board. Anybody can stack a room with supporters.”

Grant said a member proposed a petition drive, and Dick Conron said at least one resident should stand up at the selectmen's remaining meetings this year to criticize the board's July 22 vote.

“Just keep at them,” said Conron, the committee's publicist. “It's called persistence.”

“From now to Christmas, we need 10 people to do this,” he added.

The appearances, Grant added after Thursday's town committee meeting, "would remind them (the selectmen) of the error of their ways."